Infographic: America, The Lawsuit-Happy Nation

By EconMatters According to the latest BLS national wage estimate through May 2010, the mean annual salary for lawyers was around $129,440, which partly accounts for the fact that the U.S. has one of the highest number of lawyers per capita in the world. Based on data from the American Bar Association, there are over 1.2 million lawyers in the United States. That's one attorney for every 254 Americans, which also makes some of the stunning statistics (and what a waste of resources) illustrated in the infographic below somewhat "logical":

15 million lawsuits will be filed in 2011 across the U.S.

A new lawsuit every 2 seconds

One lawsuit for every 12 adults

21 U.S. states are facing a medical liability crisis

$248.1 billion = the cost to the U.S. tort system (personal injury) in 2009, or $808 per person

The cost per capita of tort related lawsuits has increased 800% between 1950 to 2009